i'm sorry that my husband is out of town with the good camera. i'll try to get pictures later.
i have put the bottom board back in. this morning i pulled it just to look and dump what was on it. i found eggs.
the eggs were about 1/8 of an inch long. most were lying flat on the board but some were stuck there upright. also, there were white...almost clear flakes of ?? all over. the eggs were white and about the size of ant eggs but thinner. they were not ant eggs
when i tapped the board, they fell off. they were not attached to it.
i hate to post to my post, but just thought of something.
i put syrup on a couple of days ago just to make sure they were topped off before it gets really cold.
might they be cleaning out bee eggs to fill cells with food for winter??
the eggs did kind of look like bee eggs.....
any thoughts would be a great help :-)
It is hard to tell what the eggs are without a picture. The white/clearish flakes where most likely wax flakes that the bees secrete from their underside. If they are not building comb, they are usually disposed of.
They usually consume the bee eggs when they don't want them. Not that they couldn't drop one, but I've never noticed one on a bottom board. Eggs are VERY small. Wax flakes are much more likely.
http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l32/kathymp123/PA220968.jpg
here is the best pic i could take with this camera. i had to really crop it down so for reference, the brown stuff is chunks of pollen.
http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l32/kathymp123/PA150976.jpg
had to add this one too....this was my adventure in hive size reduction. it was not the mess that it appeared to be....it actually went rather well! :-)
QuoteThey usually consume the bee eggs when they don't want them. Not that they couldn't drop one, but I've never noticed one on a bottom board. Eggs are VERY small. Wax flakes are much more likely.
i think you are right about the flakes. they are wax. they are also much bigger than the eggs. i had to crop the flakes out of the pic. so that i could try and get a clear(er) egg pic. the other are some kind of egg. i even squished a couple to see. i see no sign of any critter that might have left them, and they fall off with a gentle tap. that's why i am guessing that they have fallen through the SBB. i just want to know if i have some kind of nasty critter in there, or are the bees doing something and i just don't recognize what it is?